Posted on 03/16/2023 5:51:01 PM PDT by marshmallow
The pope's latest scandalous comments contradict the teachings of the Church Fathers on the existence of Hell.
VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — In an interview to mark his 10-year anniversary, Pope Francis appeared to deny the existence of Hell, saying that “is not a place” but is instead simply “a state of the heart” and “a posture towards life.”
The pontiff’s comments formed part of a lengthy conversation conducted by Argentinian news site Perfil, one of a number of recent interviews the Pope granted journalists to mark his decade upon the papal throne. Touching on a number of topics he discussed with other reporters, Francis also spoke about his philosophical and theological thought, along with aspects relating to global politics.
As part of the in-depth discussion, Francis was asked, “What is your own interpretation of Hell and paradise, and what happens to people who go to Hell, and what happens to those who go to paradise?”
Giving a trademark lengthy, convoluted, and somewhat evasive answer, Francis appeared to deny the existence of Hell as an actual place. “Hell is not a place,” he said. “If one goes to attend the Last Judgment, and sees the faces of those who go to Hell, one gets scared. If you read Dante, you get scared. But these are media representations.”
Expanding on his answer, Francis described Hell simply as “a state” — a description which appeared to refer to a state of mind. “Hell is a state, there are people who live in Hell continuously.”
He clarified that he was not referring to suffering generally, but to “those who make a world of bad or sick self-referentiality, and end up living in Hell.”
Hell is a state, it is a state of the heart, of the soul, of a posture towards life.......
(Excerpt) Read more at lifesitenews.com ...
A dear friend, who is a staunch Catholic, refuses to attend church as long as this guy is Pope.
Although, there could be others we do not know only three humans are recorded in Scripture as having gone to Heaven. Enoch, Moses and Elijah. That’s who Paul may have meant. Agains, humans are inactive upon death, but read the word, ‘sleep’, like it means the dead are running marathons.
To which cult do you belong?
Your knowledge is severely lacking for you to make such assertions. where was it Paul said He went, the third Heaven?
A disagreement over doctrine does not make me a cultist. I’m not the one who is reinterpreting Scripture to fit a point of view. Sleeping means being inactive, but you are arguing that it means activity.
There are three Heavens. The sky. Space. Heaven.
Do you even believe we have a body a soul, AND a spirit? So which cut are you a member for?
I believe what Genesis has told us. Man became a living soul when God breathed the breath of life into his body.
Is it Armstrong, your cult of choice?
No. I’m not of the Church of God.
Are the Jews, who also believe that man does not live on after death also cultists?
If being asleep means being busy does going to Heaven actually mean going to hell and going to hell actually means going to Heaven?
Does the Bible not mean what it says?
No. I’m not of the Church of God.
Are the Jews, who also believe that man does not live on after death also cultists?
If being asleep means being busy does going to Heaven actually mean going to hell and going to hell actually means going to Heaven?
Does damnation actually mean salvation and salvation actually means damnation?
Does the Bible not mean what it says?
The body is limited in time whereas the soul/spirit is not. when Paul died he went in spirit to Heaven, to await the great departure coming soon. Do a bit of searching and you will find that Paul wrote that if there is a physical body there is a spirit body.
You can’t be asleep and being busy in Heaven at the same time. That’s holding two competing thought simultaneously and making them a single thought.
Yes, Paul went to the third Heaven, in a vision. Just like Moses was not actually transported to the beginning of Earth’s creation and hung in space for 7 days as God created everything. They were both in vision and writing down what they saw.
Gibberish
We can agree to disagree. I have no problem with that.
Nobody is absolutely united on this issue, not even Jews.
1 Thess 4:14For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
Nope, not at all what the bible clearly states. It is you that does not comprehend clear biblical truth.
With him. That is, with Jesus, from the grave. Paul reaches the crux of his reply to the troubled Thessalonians. They have been concerned over the fate of their dead. The apostle now assures them, by a categorical statement, that God has planned for those Christians who have died to be resurrected as Jesus was resurrected. Such words assured the believers that their loved ones were not forgotten. This inspired assurance would satisfy the queries of the Thessalonians and set their minds at rest. It should be noted that Paul is concerned primarily with the fact that the righteous dead are not forgotten, not with the chronological details of the resurrection. These are set forth in 1 Cor. 15:23: “Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.” Paul wished to stress the fact that as God brought forth Christ from the grave, even so would He bring forth the sleeping saints from the graves.
Some teach that Paul is here speaking of disembodied souls, which, they assert, ascend to heaven at death and return with Jesus when He descends to this earth at the time of the second advent. But the Bible nowhere teaches that the soul of man is immortal and that it ascends to heaven at death (see on Matt. 10:28; Luke 16:19–31; 2 Cor. 5:2–8). Furthermore, the interpretation is quite out of harmony with the context. Paul is not speaking of immortal souls, but of “them which are asleep” (1 Thess. 4:13), “them also which sleep in Jesus” (v. 14), “the dead in Christ” (v. 16). The “dead in Christ” rise (v. 16), not descend. The living are described as not preceding them, with reference to being with the Lord (v. 15). All enter the kingdom together (v. 17). If the dead preceded the living and spent some time with the Lord prior to the resurrection, the apostle’s language would be quite meaningless, in fact, absurd. His comfort would be misplaced. Paul would have told the Thessalonians to dispel all their concern, for their loved ones were enjoying the bliss of heaven. But this he did not do. This he could not do. His teaching was in harmony with that of his Lord (see on John 14:3). Some commentators, seeing the problems involved, freely admit that “the disembodied souls are not here spoken of” (Jamiesen, Fausset, and Brown).
SDA Bible Commentary
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